His father is Segundo Soriano Lim, a direct descendant of one of the first three Chinese nationals whose business prospered in Bohol even before the Second World War.

At one time, she took the cudgels as vice mayor of Tagbilaran City and presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

Lim studied at the East Visayan Academy in Cebu City and finished his secondary education at Rafael Palma College (now University of Bohol) in 1968.

Simultaneously he accepted the offer of Assemblyman Liliano Basa Neri of Region 10 as his chief of staff.

In 1986, when Corazon Aquino became president after the EDSA People Power Revolution, he was appointed OIC mayor of Tagbilaran City.

Lim reached out to the masses by interacting with them through the top-rated weekly Mayor's Report over a local radio station.